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Videoclip of the Month!!!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

HymnosiS - Unmasking Faces (Review)

HymnosiS - Unmasking Faces

I think that the decade which has influenced music the most is the last decade from 2000 to 2010 (which is obvious due to the number of bands forming is increasing exponentially) but more importantly are the repercussions that are being had in the decade after. We see it all the time, bands from the 2000’s are influenced by bands from the 90’s, 90’s bands are influenced by the 80’s and so on. Hymnosis have adopted a style which was at the forefront of the hardcore/groove metal genre last decade which is also the style of bands such as; Disturbed, Slipknot and Lamb of God. You know that sound don’t you? because if you don’t, there is something seriously wrong with you.

As soon as I hit play on Unmasking Faces, immediately I was reminded of the days when I was just starting getting into heavier music and bands like Disturbed because it definitely gave off a groovy vibe in the music. Unmasking Faces is what I think, is an accurate reproduction of those good old days. They’ve pretty much nailed the grove/hardcore sound to detail, everything is featured; thrashy yelling vocals, clean vocals are on the money, guitar tuning is spot on, song structure is just right, words lingering in the background, the drumming style… I think you get my point.

Now, Hymnosis have done a pretty good job at recreating music that we’ve ALREADY HEARD but what can THEY do? If you’re over the whole Disturbed kind of thing, Hymnosis isn’t a really new experience so I wouldn’t really bother. But if your looking for an extension to the old style of groovy/thrashy/hardcoreish sound Hymnosis are worth looking at. I did find a few things that I thought was absent in Hymnosis’s predecessors. First of all, there is way more scope and emotion in Unmasking Faces than anything Lamb of God or Disturbed have ever created which is a good thing. When I mean emotion, I’m not referring to emoish style melodies and vocals. Hymnosis have found a really good way to intertwine the groovy/thrash/hardcore with it’s own emotion. This stems from the guitar solos, acoustic passages and the progression of the band’s sound throughout the songs. It’s just a tad hard to explain, but when it comes you should know about it. Another thing I though that makes Hymnosis just that little bit interesting is the fact that they have something there to keep you enticed in the music all the time unlike other bands who play; the same riffs, the same drumming, the same passages over and over again in a continuous loop. Although there might be just a little hint of redundancy in Unmasking Faces, just little twists in the sound make it somewhat interesting.

As far as musicianship goes, I think that the members of Hymnosis have done fairly well for themselves. Everything is where it’s supposed to be; the music is tight and well rounded and the vocals, guitars, bass and drumming all fit in nicely together. But is that what the music industry really demands nowadays? I think that because this is only the start of a new decade, bands need to be especially great to keep up with the competition. Ok, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think any of the members of Hymnosis are anything special when looked at respectively, but their song writing is very interesting, very interesting indeed. For some reason I just get this feeling that they know what their doing, as if they’ve been a band long before I was born. I mean, just the way the songs are constructed is just awesome. They have attitude as well which gives their music an extra spin-off which definitely comes out through the breakdowns and guitar solos. I think that Hymnosis have shown outstanding professionalism with Unmasking Faces.

Hmmm, don’t get me wrong, Hymnosis is a very interesting band to listen to and there are many twists and turns in Unmasking Faces. But for some reason, just like in some technical death metal, I just can’t shake off this feeling of hollowness in their music, it just feels like there is something missing. And it’s that something that’s the difference between an really awesome album and an enjoyable album and for some reason, I just can’t put my finger on it. I don’t mean to offend the band in any way, but I just don’t feel Unmasking Faces’s “heaviness”. There is just nothing that I’d consider “heavy” in this album, ok, maybe just one breakdown but that’s about it (Although this is probably due to my hardened listening experience with really heavy bands from heavier genres of metal.)

Overall, Unmasking Faces is quite an impressive release which is perfect for fans of groovy/thrashy/hardcorish music. This is quite a showcase for the band because this is probably the first time Hymnosis had the chance to stretch it’s legs to a fully fledged release and I must say, it’s very enjoyable even for me… an occasional listener who is past all the disturbed type of music. I don’t think I’ve heard many albums of this genre with this much “adventure”; there are guitar solos, breakdowns and touches of emotion littered throughout this album. I recommend the tracks Unmasking Faces and How Dare You for first time listeners because they’ve both worth a try. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of this style of metal, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. I give Hymnosis’s Unmasking Faces a 15/20.